Unbroken promise
by The most beautiful of lies
Summary: Until the day Temari stopped whispering his name in the fear filled silence – Shikamaru would come to her. Until the day their secret was found out and brought to light – Temari would come to him. They were the others addiction. Two doomed lovers, forced to meet in secret. Trapped in a cage of their own hearts foolish design...


_**A/N: **_ So this is kind of a mix up between a T and M rating….I wasn't sure what to put sooo…heads up? xD Also its kind short….but I wrote it at three AM sooooo…. xD let me know! (If you know me – you know who you are! – don't laugh! I'm already dying of embarrassment for posting this xD)

The whole of Suna lay under the blanket of sleep. Darkness – his friend – hid him from view of the guard ninja. He came here for one purpose – _desire_. He came here for one woman – Her. Sabaku No Tamari. The Kazekage's _sister. Gaara's _older sister. If caught, he knew not only he but the whole of the Hidden Leaf would pay. That only added to the excitement racing through his viens. The pure and primal call for her. The fire only she could tame. Tamari. His wind – dancer. His Siren. The reason he was risking life and limb of himself, his family, his clan….hell his whole village! If caught, Shikamaru knew that those of his village as well as his own life would be forfeit.

He'd already been caught once by that stupid puppet master, Kankuro. He'd managed to catch Shikamaru before the shadow nin was able to summon a jutsu. The puppet master had let him go, but not before describing in very graphic detail how he would "rearrange" Shikamaru's anatomy. Duly scolded, Shikamaru had slunk away – defeated by a superior male….Kankuro should have just killed him.

That same night, once he was sure the other was truly gone, he snuck into Tamari's room. He would have been caught and given his "rearrangement" and death wish – but how would one catch another when every time they turned around, no one was there? Just your shadow for company….

As he came to her door, he sent a tendril of shadow and the job was done. He was in. As if she knew he was coming, Tamari had left a lamp burning. She lay in bed, fully clothed, a book lay open across her chest. Yet another victim of the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Shikamaru let her sleep and sat in the chair by her bed. A chair placed there just for him. The very same as the one that sat by his bed each night. Cold and alone, waiting for the one alone it's meant for, to come.

As he watched Tamari sleep, doubts began to creep over Shikamaru. Questions that needed answering. Answers he knew and desired. So warm and full of passion, they made him feel indescribable peace. Much akin to watching the clouds….. But more intense. When he was with her, he felt they could live forever….

As he thought about it more, more answers came to him. Answers he didn't want….so cold and full of logic, when he was alone and thinking about it, he knew for certain – slowly bur surly – they were killing each other. Star crossed lovers, doomed from the start. Once each others beginning, now the others ending. With her, he knew….they would drag each other to oblivion….

As he watched, her breaths came quicker. Just the sound of it had him gripping the arms of his chair. Biting his lip to stop from taking what was his. From feeling his world collapse to one small moment in time. To feel her everywhere, around him. Fill his senses to the breaking point….

"Shikamaru?"

With that one word, the spell was released. His Siren had called him and saved him from drowning. The moment his name left Temari's lips – he was lost. As soon as her fiery gaze roamed over his now naked form, the last of his breath left him. When she opened herself to him, mind, body and soul – he locked himself into a cage of his own design….and gladly threw away the key.

As he always would. Until the day Temari stopped whispering his name in the fear filled silence – he would come to her. Until the day their secret was found out and brought to light – she would come to him. They were the others addiction. Two doomed lovers, forced to meet in secret. Trapped in a cage of their own foolish design.

The door was open for them. But the pull was too strong. The hunger still _**right there. **_

To strong was the gasping of his name ripped from her lips. Alive for but a moment, until it's roughly brought to an end. Silenced with a desperate kiss. A whispered plea for more, a silent cry of surrender.

In the dark of night, a single lamp illuminates their sins. Lights their promises made. Promises for forever. Promises of love and acceptance. Of devotion. Each night a promise is made, sealed with the entwining of bodies, gasps of bitter sweet release and surrender.

The door to the cage is open. The two stand on a precipice looking down on their life below: A man and his son, lying on a green field and watching the clouds as they stroll lazily by. A woman and her daughter standing in a field of sand, watching in awe of a sand storm, miles away.

…..an old man and woman, each lying in the arms of the other in their final goodbye….

As the two lovers drive the other over the edge into bliss, they both know its momentary. A quick salve for a wound that will never heal. Because they know:

The cry that escapes her lips is not for him to hear. It never was to begin with….

The promise ripped from his lips, one of eternal love and devotion, is not for her. It never was to begin with….

The cage door is open, the key in the lock just waiting to be turned. As she reaches out and kisses away his tears, she grasps the key…

As he twines his fingers with hers and holds her tight, he grasps the key…

As the two lay there –time left only to hold each other a moment – shivering in the warmth of their beloved….

They throw away the key. Shut the door to the cage forever. Trapped forever, never to walk that last step off the precipice and claim what is truly theirs.

The cage is closed…one last kiss and he melts away into his world of shadows. As pain rips through their hearts, they keep their candle burning. They keep the chair by their bed, Cold and alone, waiting for the one it's meant for….

A bitter smile graced his lips, but for a moment, warming his cold gaze, as a thought struck him:

_**Whoever had said "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" … couldn't have been more wrong… **_


End file.
